Sports briefs

Tuesday

Jun 18, 2013 at 4:13 PM

Hesston College

athletes honored

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Fourteen Hesston College athletes were named National Junior College Athletic Association Academic Athletes of Distinction (Academic All-Americans) for the 2012-13 school year.

There are three levels of the award — Pinnacle Award for Academic Excellence (4.0 grade-point-average) on a 4.0 scale, Award for Superior Academic Achievement (3.8 to 3.99 GPA) and Award for Exemplary Academic Achievement (3.6 to 3.79).

Newton downed the McPherson Dawgs 14-3. Matt Eldridge and Erik Brown each pitched two innings. Zach Kennell was named the team's defensive MVP at first base.

Kaden-Weber Gonzalez had a single, a double and a triple and a walk with three runs scored and two RBIs. Kenton Fox had two singles and a double, scored three runs and drove in two runs and was named the team's offensive MVP. Joel Golubski had two hits, two runs and an RBI. Brown had a triple and a single.

Newton lost to another McPherson team 13-9. Kennell and Colby Beer each pitched two innings. Matt Seirer was named defensive MVP for his play at third base and catcher.

Seirer had a single, a double and a triple, scoring a run and driving in three. Brown had a triple and an RBI and was named the offensive MVP.

Sunday, Newton lost to the Salina Bombers 8-5. Caleb Bisterfeldt pitched two innings. Eldridge pitched one inning. Seirer was named defensive MVP for his play at catcher.

Seirer had two hits and two RBIs. Weber-Gonzalez had a triple and an RBI and was named the offensive MVP.

The team is 13-7, 10-1 in league play.

Wild takes

league awards

LAWRENCE — The Wichita Wild took several Champions Professional Indoor Football League awards at the end of the league's first season.

The Wild was named franchise of the year. General manager John Blazek was named team executive of the year. The team shared the best media relations-social media award with the first-year Lincoln Haymakers.

The Wild host the Salina Bombers at 7:05 p.m. Saturday for Champions Bowl I at Hartman Arena.

CHL announces

franchise changes

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Central Hockey League announced the Fort Worth Brahmas have suspended operations and the Bloomington Blaze have left the league.

The Brahmas 36-22-8 last season, third in the CHL regular season behind Wichita. Fort Worth won its first-round playoff series against Quad City 4-1, but was swept by Wichita in four games.

Fort Worth trailed the league in average attendance at 1,762, but played at the smallest venue in the league — the 2,400-seat NYTEX Sports Centre in suburban North Richland Hills.

Fort Worth was founded in 1997 in the Western Professional Hockey League and joined the CHL in 2001, when the two leagues merged. The Brahmas suspended play in the 2006-07 season because the team could not obtain a lease at its old home, the Fort Worth Convention Center. The team returned for the 2007-08 season at the NYTEX Centre.

Fort Worth won the 2008-09 playoff title.

According to a league press release, the CHL is working to find a venue for the Brahmas for the 2014-14 season.

Bloomington replaced the Bloomington Prairie Thunder, which came to the CHL from the United Hockey League-International Hockey League. The Prairie Thunder folded after the 2010-11 season.

Bloomington finished 28-36-2, ninth in the 10-team league. The Blaze missed the playoffs. Bloomington averaged 2,520 fans per game in a venue that seats 7.000, also ninth in the league.

Bloomington is joining the Class A level Southern Professional Hockey League, where the team will join former CHL members the Mississippi RiverKings and Columbus (Ga.) Cottonmouths.

The CHL will remain at 10 teams for the upcoming season as the Brampton (Ont.) Beast and St. Charles (Mo.) Chill will join the league